EVE Online | Players steal over $20,000 in massive in-game theft

EVE Online has just experienced the biggest heist in its history, as players steal the equivalent of $20,000 in real-world money.

For an MMO commonly described as “spreadsheets in space”, EVE Online has proven to be a reliable source of drama over the years since its release. The latest incident: a pair of players have used a loophole to take control of a corporation and steal currency and assets worth some 2.1 trillion ISK – the equivalent of over $22,000 in real-world money.

As reported by PC Gamer, the operation involved buying shares in their target corporation – Event Horizon Expeditionaires – and calling a vote for a new CEO. Despite having some 299 members, the corporation had evidently lain dormant in a while, because after 72 hours, the two players behind the scam were the only two to cast a vote.

Having taken control of the corporation, the players were then free to steal all of the firm’s cash and assets. Far from quietly flying off into the depths of space with their ill-gotten gains, the robbers have openly boasted about their antics – or at any rate one of them has, in a post on Reddit.

Redditor Flam_Hill describes in detail, right down to its name – Operation Yours is Mine – and the date it took place: 30 March 2023.

“Eve is beautiful game,” Flam_Hill writes in a lengthy and decidedly grandiose post. “It is a harsh game as well and in that its true greatness! The well-being and security of a Corporation or Alliance lies in the management of its leadership, the activity of those members is paramount. This heist would was made possible by really only two things, I had come into the shares by pure chance and EHEXP leadership barely registered a heartbeat.”

Both the Reddit post and PC Gamer’s report dissect the whole affair in far more detail than we can do justice to here. What hasn’t yet emerged is how the former owners of Event Horizon Expeditionaires feel about having their virtual stuff quietly relieved from them.